() Because Xiliang is restricted by geographical and demographic factors, the supply of food is often unable to meet demand. In the past, when Xiliang was still a territory of the Han Dynasty, people here were needed to defend the place against the Qiang and other foreigners.

If there is an invasion, the imperial court will send food and grass in time to solve this problem. But now, when the Han Dynasty court itself is no longer worthy of its name, and the land of Xiliang is out of the control of the imperial court, their food shortage problem has disappeared.

It's becoming more and more obvious.

Among all the places in Xiliang, the food shortage problem is the most serious here in Long County. The root cause is that in the past it was a state-governed area belonging to Xiliang Prefecture, and it was more like a city with less cultivated land. This made

The people in this city need to buy food from outside. Although there are always some reserves in case of emergencies, the food in Long County is finally running out after so many days of consumption.

When Ma Teng told the cause and effect, as well as the difficult problems they had to face, Ma Yue also seemed silent. Although he had expected that there would be a food shortage, he did not expect that things would be so bad.

Now it seems that it is somewhat unsustainable.

"Father, how much food is there in the city now, and how long can it last?" Ma Yue asked after a while.

"If it weren't for the purpose of stabilizing the morale of the military and the people so that the new year can go well, we can still survive for one or two months. But now, because the consumption during the new year is much greater than before, the food storage is less than one month at most. Moreover,

"The next step is the spring famine season. Not to mention that we don't have much food in Xiliang. Even if there is a lot of food, I'm afraid the food from other places will not be able to support us." Ma Teng sighed as he spoke: "It is precisely because of worries.

When food was scarce, I didn't fight with those people on the issues of the people, otherwise I would always get some."

After hearing this, Ma Yue nodded repeatedly and said: "Father's consideration is very reasonable. Now we can't even say that we can afford to raise ourselves and the 10,000 or 20,000 horses, let alone the common people. Once we run out of food,

, they will inevitably escape, and then our momentum will be weakened."

"Are there no dangers of food shortages in other cities? We in Xiliang Prefecture get most of their food from the Central Plains, but this time it is obviously impossible for the court to allocate more food, and under their rule there is so much food.

I'm afraid there are more than 100,000 people who can't be satisfied with their meager land. Aren't they afraid of such a situation?" Ma Chao asked with some confusion. As for the fact that those people were taken away that day,

He was still quite unhappy, so he said this.

Ma Yue smiled bitterly after hearing his brother's words: "They are really not worried about food problems. Because they have enough food, even if another hundred thousand people come, they can feed it. Plus, if there are more people, they can still survive."

By reclaiming wasteland, they can quickly absorb all these people."

"How is this possible? Where do they get the extra food?"

Glancing at his father, Ma Yue could only say with a grimace: "Brother, have you forgotten that we borrowed food from several famous families a few years ago? At that time, we obtained hundreds of thousands of stones of food from them. Although these two

We have consumed a lot in the year, but there is still a lot of savings. It is precisely because of the food in hand that Dong Zhuo has the confidence to become the enemy of the world."

"I see..." Ma Chao then remembered this matter, and then his face became even more ugly: "Second brother, you managed to get these grains from those aristocratic families, but you didn't expect that you got them at a discount. It's really

It’s dissatisfying!”

Ma Teng thought about this and felt resentful in his heart. He should have been happy that his son had achieved success and could get a lot of food from those wealthy families for free. But when he thought that the food not only did not belong to him, but was also his enemy.

At that time, this feeling was not very pleasant. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh.

Ma Yue smiled bitterly and said: "I was still working under Dong Zhuo at that time, so how could I have thought of the changes today? Naturally, all the food was transported to Lintao City, and now it is naturally easier for those people."

"Yeah, no one can predict the timing." Ma Teng also said with some distress: "But judging from the current situation, our situation is really not good. Maybe those people will soon attack

We have taken action. After all, Long County where we are located is the administrative seat of Xiliang. If they want to unify Xiliang, there is no way they will not stop us."

"Father, you can rest assured. At least in this year, they will not dare to openly be enemies with us." In this regard, Ma Yue had his own opinion: "The people of Xiliang always keep their promises.

They have already violated their previous agreement and will not be controlled by their father after returning to Xiliang. This will inevitably have a bad impact on the army. And if they dare to use troops against us again, I am afraid that there will be chaos internally before the troops and horses move.

Then we can defeat them in one fell swoop!"

"Well, Yue'er's view does make some sense." Ma Teng nodded, and the uneasiness in his heart calmed down a little. But then he added: "But even so, our troubles are still not small, because we are facing

The right enemies are not only them, but also the Qiang people..."

"Qiang people..." Ma Yue murmured: "We defeated them severely in the past few years, and they were inactive for a while. However, after recuperating in the past few years, their vitality should indeed be restored.

.”

"Yes, and they must also understand our current situation in Xiliang and the chaos in the Central Plains, so maybe it won't be long before the Qiang people attack us again. By then, under internal and external troubles, our Long County

It's hard to say whether we can hold on or not." Ma Teng's whole face was distorted by these questions, and it was obvious that this period of time had caused many difficulties for him.

"Father, don't worry too much. We can always solve these troubles." Ma Yue comforted his father and said, "And my son has already considered it in the past two months. The food problem has to fall on those aristocratic families.

"Actually, in the past two months, Ma Yue didn't really ignore anything. At least he had some understanding of the food problem in the city and had thought about it.

"Are you really sure that you will get food from those aristocratic families again?" Ma Teng felt happy when he heard this. He was already very convinced of his son's ability. Since Ma Yue said that he had a way to get it from the aristocratic families,

Food should be quite certain. However, for safety reasons, he couldn't help but ask: "By what means do you want to get food from them? It's no different now than when you were under Dong Zhuo's tent. We

But we have no power to threaten them."

"Don't worry, father. I'm not so arrogant as to think that our small force can scare those wealthy families. If we do this, I'm afraid it will force them to join forces with Li Que and others to deal with us."

"Then what other ideas do you have?" Ma Teng asked curiously.

"Of course we used real money and silver to buy food from them." Ma Yue smiled and said: "Aren't the properties we transported from Chang'an used to deal with the current situation? And with the style of these aristocratic families, as long as

We buy grain from them at reasonable prices, and they have no reason to refuse."

"Hey, I really forgot about this." Ma Teng slapped his thigh suddenly: "This is indeed a good idea. With the rich wealth of those aristocratic families, it is absolutely enough for us to buy food from them to supply ourselves.

.But...will those people watch us buy food from them?" The people he mentioned naturally refer to other Xiliang Army generals.

These people should have guessed that Long County may be short of food now. From their standpoint, they naturally hope that the Ma family will have a series of problems and completely lose the ability to compete with them. If they suddenly find out that the Ma family

If you pay to buy grain from those aristocratic families, you will inevitably come up with various means to intervene, and no one can guarantee that this will actually happen.

"This, we can block it with troops and the water comes to the soil. The sergeants under our command are not vegetarians, and if they really want to do such a thing, they can't do it openly, so it's enough to deal with it."

"That's what I hope." Seeing that Ma Yue's idea was sound, Ma Teng could no longer throw cold water on it. But now that the most urgent problem was solved, he felt a little more relaxed, so he mentioned

The situation in the Central Plains: "Yue'er, your previous judgment was indeed correct, and now the Central Plains is indeed in chaos."

"Oh? Father, please tell me." Ma Yue also became interested upon hearing this. Although he had made some judgments and made a lot of moves on this matter, he no longer cared about the changes in the Central Plains after he came back.

Because he knew that after the Xiliang army left Chang'an, it was not up to them to have the final say on what it would become. So it was better to have a good rest and think about how to expand in Xiliang. But his father suddenly mentioned this

Things still interest him very much.

"The saying that two peaches kill three soldiers has indeed come true. When the generals from all sides who had previously sent troops under the banner of serving the emperor and the country entered Chang'an and saw that the emperor was still there, they immediately fought each other. I heard that there were several groups of people at that time.

Almost in Chang'an

A fight broke out in the city." Ma Teng said with some gloating: "This allowed everyone in the world to see the true face of these people. Many people condemned their wolfish ambitions, and Gongsun Zan and other generals who had withdrawn from the coalition earlier raised troops again.

"Now the entire Central Plains has fallen into chaos. Although the Emperor is still in Chang'an, someone will surely take him out of the palace soon. Now that I think about it, your previous decision was really correct. If

The Emperor also brought us here, I'm afraid we in Xiliang will become the target of public criticism!"

"A common man is innocent, but he is guilty of carrying a jade. Since we don't have the corresponding strength, we shouldn't control the emperor." Speaking of this, Ma Yue thought of the former emperor, Hongnong Wang Liu, who was still secretly hidden in his palace.

Debate, when he has completely controlled all the forces in Xiliang and the world is completely in chaos, he will bring out this person who can be on an equal footing with Liu Xie.

After talking about their speculations about the situation in the Central Plains for a while, the father and son turned to the issue of how to obtain food. In this regard, Ma Yue's purpose was very clear: "As long as we obtain food from the first family, the next one will

The rest of the matter will be a matter of course. And with our current status, brother, it should be the most normal thing for us to ask for food from the Lin family?" His words made Ma Chao startled, but he immediately understood what Ma Yue's intention was.
Chapter completed!